While Round 7 might not have as many blockbusters as a week ago, it makes up for it with sheer tipping difficulty across the weekend.

Just about every match has upset potential, meaning the panel’s best effort of the year last week looks unlikely to be repeated.

Nobody returned to form more emphatically than Marnie Cohen, who put a miserable score of three behind her to record a great score of eight, as did AdelaideDocker. Daniel Jeffrey and myself weren’t far behind on seven, but the real stars of the show were you – the Crowd – with a perfect score of nine.

With that news, it’s my pleasure to announce that every single one of you will be replacing us on the expert tipping panel next year. I can’t wait to read what the several thousand-member panel has to say in 2020.

For the first time in 2019 (can you believe it?), the round begins on a Friday night. Collingwood and Port Adelaide will lock horns at Marvel Stadium in what will be a tougher match to tip than people realise.

Yes, the Magpies are flying and probably slide in just behind Geelong for premiership favourtism, but the Power are only behind their opponents on percentage and have collected some impressive scalps so far this year.

Even Collingwood’s recent record against Port is poor, with only two wins from eight clashes. However, they’ve never lost to the Alberton mob at Docklands, who have a patchy recent record at that venue. On those grounds, I’m backing the Pies.

Saturday, bizarrely, has two games beginning at the exact same time; GWS hosting St Kilda in Canberra and Melbourne tackling Hawthorn at the MCG.

Both games here are quite tough. Nobody has been more disappointing this season than the Demons and, despite Hawthorn looking utterly hapless for a half against the Blues on Sunday, they just don’t look capable of running over anyone.

As hit-and-miss as the Hawks have been, they’ve definitely brought the heat in every game so far. That sounds like a disaster for Melbourne side who produce more turnovers each week than an Austrian bakery.

Simon Goodwin needs more from his team – can they deliver? (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

GWS-St Kilda isn’t the clear-cut match you think it is either, with the Saints still looking like a top eight bolter and the Giants having their Canberra fortress raided only briefly. Still, Alan Richardson’s side doesn’t travel particularly well, so the men in orange get my pick.

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As weird as it would’ve sounded to hear this last year, Brisbane over Sydney is probably one of the easier tips this week.

It’s true the Swans have had an almighty spell over the Lions for an unfathomably long period of time – 19 wins and one draw in their last 22 meetings – but the last time the Lions beat the Sydneysiders was 2009, which is also the last season the former made the finals and the last time the latter missed. That’s no coincidence to me.

Saturday night’s two games probably skew towards the easier side too.

The Western Bulldogs are flying under the futility radar a little bit and I expect them to get a bit of a football lesson by Richmond under the Marvel Stadium roof.

As wobbly as West Coast have been – their clash against Gold Coast is, remarkably, 12th vs 13th – the comforts of Optus Stadium should make them too tall of a task for the young Suns.

Sunday is a bit more difficult. Carlton have shown some serious mettle in the past fortnight and, although young sides have the propensity to follow up honourable losses with frustratingly poor performances, I think they can get past North Melbourne.

Geelong are absolutely flying at the moment and should be able to withstand an immense challenge from the deceptively strong Bombers. Finally, if the Dockers can beat the Giants in Canberra, they should be able to knock off the Crows in Adelaide.

Saturday evening seems to be the best time for the Shoe-In of the Week to come into play. As seriously tempted as I am to put Sydney on notice with a Lions pick, Richmond over the Doggies seems like the surer bet this weekend.

I finally had a tipping week worth bragging about! Unfortunately, I don’t feel as confident going into round seven.

There are a few games that could really go either way here, with the round opener and closer the toughest to tip.

I’ve gone for Collingwood, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Port got up. Former captain Travis Boak will be celebrating game number 250 and a win would be an appropriate way to honour him. They will have to do it without Robbie Gray and Tom Jonas though, as they will both be missing through injury. Mason Cox will also not play for the Pies.

Both teams will need to do address their final quarter fade-outs from last week – it almost cost them each the four points. Hopefully, it’s a cracker and the margin fewer than 10 points.

There will be a similar result in Adelaide on Sunday afternoon, and I’ve tipped the Crows to win at home. If the game was in Perth, I would’ve gone for Freo. The Dockers have enjoyed a really strong start to the season and, while they have proved they can win away from home, the Crows seem to be getting their season back on track.

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Speaking of getting back on track, I suspect North Melbourne and Melbourne could claim their second wins of the season. Both clubs have had an extended break and showed glimpses of good footy their last games.

While both Carlton and Hawthorn have had pretty good seasons so far, they played in a gruelling battle in Tasmania on the weekend. For Carlton, they will lose key players in Kade Simpson and Matthew Kreuzer, while some important Hawks are still sidelined. Both the Dees and North have big opportunities to get up on the weekend and I suspect they will.

Geelong and GWS are emerging as the best sides in the competition and I think they’ll both walk away victorious. West Coast have a golden opportunity to make a big statement against the Suns, which I think they will do.

On recent form, I can’t see either of the 2016 grand finalists getting up and have therefore tipped Brisbane and Richmond.

Editor’s note: While the above tips are genuinely Daniel Jeffrey’s, he is out of office and unable to provide a write-up. I have therefore attempted to produce analysis that sounds exactly* like what he would have said.

How good is Stirling Coates? He scored eight whole points last week. I mean, I did too, but still. What a guy.

I was completely lost when it came to tipping this week, so I had a quick peek at what Stirling had written down and decided to go with his tips – except for the last game. I didn’t see what he wrote down for that one so I went with Adelaide after tossing a coin.

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Looking forward to a big score this week!

* – ‘exactly’ in this instance refers to exactly what I would like him to say.

Oh, man – eight out of nine is so close! Damn it Carlton, I believed in you and you let me down. Am I a fan yet? Anyway, here’s my tips.

Collingwood hosting Port starts us off this week, and this should be a cracker. They’re both coming off closely contested wins, although the Power largely controlled last week’s contest until coasting to the conclusion. Collingwood’s forward line is beginning to click and, despite Port’s strengths, I’m more inclined to trust the home side. Pies to win, narrowly.

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Saturday’s chock-a-block with big clashes. The Hawks and the Dees take battle at the ‘G, and this is surprisingly hard to pick. The Dees are trash at the moment, while the Hawks are a middle of the road team. This is a great chance for the Dees to begin a resurgence, but they’ll blow it.

GWS returns to Canberra to host the Saints and, despite their turbulent trip to the nation’s capital a fortnight ago, they should have too much polish for the fledgeling Saints.

Brisbane hosts Sydney in the twilight clash and, while the Swans have bested the Lions for the past decade, the Lions will hold off a strong challenge to break the streak. Richmond, too, should comfortably beat the Bulldogs in their Saturday night clash, while West Coast – ruing last week’s loss – will likely pummel Gold Coast in an exceptionally one-sided clash.

Andrew Gaff and the Eagles need to get 2019 back on track. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Sunday’s games get a little harder to tip. North Melbourne take on Carlton to start us off, and this is a difficult one. The Blues will be aggrieved with last week’s narrow loss – especially given their blistering start against the Hawks – but I’m hesitant to say they’ll win.

North have been dreadful, but I’m going to proclaim this to be my risky tip of the week and say the Kangaroos will earn their second win of the season.

Geelong and Essendon will also be a close game, given their results last week. The Bombers been resurgent, but I’ll have to back the Cats to keep their buffer at the top of the ladder.

Freo and Adelaide will finish us off in South Australia. Fremantle’s record in my state has been terrible, while ther Crows have got two good wins under their belt in the last fortnight.

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It’ll be a hell of an effort for the Dockers to win, but winning will be important in the context of their season – they need a big scalp. Don Pyke’s men should be too strong, and they will probably win, but expect the visitors to keep it close.